Product Description

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Best-selling author Alistair Moffat offers fresh insights into one of the most famous battles in history. As 8,000 Scottish solders, most of them spearmen, faced 18,000 English infantrymen, archers and mounted knights on the morning of Sunday 23 June 1314, many would have that the result a foregone conclusion. But after two days' fighting, the English were routed. Edward II fled to Dunbar and took ship for home, and only one English unit escaped from Scotland intact. The emphatic defeat of much larger English force was the moment that enabled Scotland to remain independent and pursue a different destiny. This book follows in detail the events of those two days that changed history. In addition to setting the battle within its historical and political context Alistair Moffat captures all the fear, heroism, confusion and desperation of the fighting itself as he describes the tactics and manoeuvres that led to Scottish victory. The result is a very human picture of Bannockburn that recreates the experience not only of the leaders - Edward II and Robert the Bruce - but the ordinary men who fought to the death on both sides.

Additional Information

Additional Information

Format

Multiple Formats

Imprint

Birlinn Limited

Publication Date

1 May 2014

SKU

9781780272184-grouped

Number of Pages

160

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Press Reviews

'Moffat's account of the mustering of the English army and its march north is splendid. He is a master of historical geography and deeply versed in the techniques of medieval warfare' - Scotsman 'Alistair Moffat's Bannockburn is a pacy account of the days leading up to the battle' - Saturday Herald 'Mr Moffat's account of the duel between Bruce and de Bohun is totally gripping and he is particularly enthralling about the councils of war on the eve of the second day's battle' - Country Life 'A readable and colourful account of the days leading up to what many predicted would be an easy English victory' - The Herald 'Alistair Moffat [ - ] brings the melee and its preamble vividly to life [ - ] a swashbuckling read, as frenetic as a fast-paced thriller [ - ] Bannockburn is as fresh as a postcard mailed from the day itself' - The Lady 'A carefully considered account of a well-trodden historical event, Moffat enlightens and educates with an up-to-date interpretation of a battle firmly cemented in Scottish history' - Scottish Field